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Cross-country: East Ridge girls take 14th at state

East Ridge's Abby Witte finished the state meet run in 104th place with a time of 20:01.2. Alec Hamilton / RiverTown Multimedia1 / 2

Joseph Reimann of East Ridge finished 41st at state with a time of 16:20.1. Alec Hamilton / RiverTown Multimedia2 / 2

The East Ridge girls' cross-country team exceeded expectations one more time at the Class 2A state meet on Saturday, Nov. 4.

The Raptors qualified for the state meet by the slimmest of margins after tying with Bloomington Jefferson for second place in the Class 2A, Section 3 championship meet. At the state race at St. Olaf College in Northfield, the Raptors finished 14th out of 16 teams.

Considering many did not have high expectations for East Ridge, head coach Chad Cronin said the girls were happy with the results.

"We ended up 14th, so they took on a couple of teams," Cronin said. "That was pretty neat that we were able to get there and be competitive with a couple of teams. When they learned we got 14th, it was icing on the cake."

Eighth-grader Halle Mestery was the highest-finishing Raptor at state, finishing 68th with a time of 19 minutes, 32.5 seconds. Senior Abby Witte finished 104th in 20:01.2, followed by her teammates Gwyneth Gerlach in 125th (20:15.8), Tatum Geving in 131st (20:16.7) and Mary Kenney in 141st (20:27.7). Rounding out the varsity team were Eleasha McKenzie in 148th (20:41.4) and Emily Tupper in 165th (21:06.7).

Joseph Reimann also represented the East Ridge boys' cross-country team in the Class 2A boys' race, finishing 41st with a time of 16:20.1.

Cronin said Reimann had to shake off the disappointment that the rest of the East Ridge boys' varsity team was not competing with him at the state meet. The boys finished third, one spot away from team qualification, in the Section 3AA championship team standings.

But Cronin said the junior Reimann was able to shake off the disappointment to run the best 5-kilometer race time of his career. The Raptors coaches keep track of the top-25 times in program history, and Reimann's personal record is one of the few that were accomplished at state.

"We keep track of the top-25 times, and he's already number two on that list," Cronin said. "Nobody on that list has their personal record at the state meet course, and now he does."

Royals at state

Two Woodbury cross-country runners wrapped up their seasons in the Class 2A state championships on Saturday.

Sophomore Tiffany Holiday broke the 20-minute mark in the Class 2A girls championship, taking 103rd with a time of 19:59.6. Holiday made her second-straight appearance at state after qualifying as a freshman last season.

Senior Peter Michalowicz finished 142nd in the Class 2A boys race, crossing the finish line with a time of 17:21.9.